Multicultural Junk Food : Frito Lay Introduces Asian-Inspired Snacks

Snacking is a pastime for many, and those who haunt Asian supermarkets know that SNACKS like Pocky sticks, haw flakes, namkeens, dried seaweed or those puffy shrimp chips make up one of the major food groups. So, it’s no surprise that the higher-ups at Frito Lay put their noggins together in an attempt to win the snack food dollars of Canada’s largest ethnic groups by introducing limited-edition WASABI and SPICY CURRY LAY'S® POTATO CHIPS.

The promo-speak states Lay's® Tastes of Canada™ potato chips celebrate the “diversity, tradition and rich cuisine that come together to make this country a great place to live in”. Before you wonder how the flavours would go over in, say, Spuzzum, the bags of WASABI and SPICY CURRY-FLAVOURED POTATO CHIPS will only pop up on shelves in TORONTO and VANCOUVER. If the flavours sell well in these urban markets, Frito Lay plan to go national: “There are Canadians who don’t know what wasabi is, so we’ll teach them,” says a Frito lay spokesperson. Heck, if sushi can become a staple word in our food lexicon, surely wasabi potato chips could be the next big thing! Nevermind that Frito Lay targeted their marketing for these flavours at Chinese and Indo-Canadian media outlets, when wasabi isn't part of either group's cuisine repertoire.

In their attempt to become the Benetton of the junk food world, Frito Lay apparently created and tested 40 "ethnic" flavours including seaweed, cucumber, and green tea before choosing WASABI and SPICY CURRY. It would've been an interesting job to taste-test them all, although not sure how cucumber is considered “ethnic”...

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Read The Globe & Mail's article "Frito Lay Perks Up Chips" by Andy Hoffman, here.
Take a look at Frito Lay's website, here.